Movers make amends for flight in night

So says the Hott family, owners of Baltimore Storage Co., the people who use those big green and yellow Mayflower vans.

You know the vans, the ones that moved the Baltimore Colts to Indianapolis.

John Hott and his sons, Jay and Donald, say they were as surprised as anyone to see Mayflower vans moving the beloved Colts out of town on a dark and snowy night in 1984.

"We heard about everything [nasty] you could hear," said John Hott, 57. "We got bomb threats, people were going to burn our trucks, we had tires slashed, and others said they'd never move with us again. People were upset. Mayflower did not leave a good taste in their mouths."

The Hotts have been trying to purge the stigma ever since.

To that end, they move the Baltimore Colts Band's equipment to and from out-of-town concerts for free.

So far, they've done it 28 times.

"The least we could do was try to help where we could," said John Hott. "I like football and I like the band. I've been out to their bull roasts . . . when you get that whole bunch together, it's like a family reunion. When they first called for help, I thought they'd be around for a year or so. No way I thought they could hold together without a team, but they get stronger and stronger."

And these days when people give Jay Hott a hard time about moving the Colts out of Baltimore he says: "At least we got rid of the Irsays."